Bret Bielema to get $12M as part of buyout agreement with Arkansas

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema walks the sidelines as the Razorbacks play Missouri during the first half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)

Former Arkansas coach Bret Bielema’s buyout life is a life we all dream of.

Bielema, who was fired as Arkansas’ coach after the Razorbacks’ season-ending loss to Missouri, will receive a shade under $12 million from the school’s Razorback Foundation as part of his buyout agreement with the school.

The foundation announced the terms of the buyout on Tuesday. Bielema will be paid in monthly installments of $320,833.33 per month through December 2020. For not coaching.

If Bielema finds another coaching job over the next three years, his buyout can be reduced by the amount of his future salary. But for the sake of this comparison exercise, we’re going to assume that he doesn’t. Here’s how his buyout stacks up to some other economic statistics.

• Bielema’s monthly buyout payment of approximately $321,000 puts him in the 99.1 percentile of Americans’ yearly income. Yes, Bielema is in the one percent in just one monthly buyout check.

• His buyout averages out to a daily salary of $10,548 per day. The American median household income in 2017 was approximately $60,000. Bielema surpasses the median in six days.

• According to the United States Census, approximately 10 percent of U.S. families lived in poverty in 2016. The poverty line for a family of four was $24,563. At $439.50 per hour, Bielema’s buyout exceeds the poverty line in 56 hours.